Chasing Cars
by KathBell
Summary: In a coma for 8 days, six hours, and thirteen minutes. They didn't even know he had been hurt for three days. Post-Season-6 Finale All pairings used in show. Part three in 'Titled Song' series. Can standalone!
1. Prologue

_**I hate this part...**_

_**A/N: Pre-Sequel to 'Off I Go' although you don't have to read 'Off I Go' to understand it. Though I would like you to read it though **__**. The references in the story to Alex after he had been shot are put into a story. There will be a bit of my OC Sofia in this, but again you don't need to read Off I Go to understand that her and George grew up together, she used to live with Meredith, Izzie and George and that she is Lexie's best friend. **_

_**SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE SEASON 6 FINALE!  
**_

_**Disclaimer: Own nothing. **_

_**Story information/summary: **__**8 days, six hours, and thirteen minutes. They didn't even know he had been hurt for three days. She had Owen. She had Derek. Three days. Alex had been shot. Set after Season-6 Finale**_

_**Prologue. **_

He didn't know what to do. He knew that he was stuck in the elevator. Again. What was it with him and elevators? He coughed, but to his horror, looked at the blood that had escaped his mouth.

This was not a good thing.

He knew he was bleeding, he knew that it was a lot. He could see part of the blood pool that was forming around him. He knew the precise amount of blood the human being has in a body. He knew how much he could lose before he needed a transfusion or worse, before he was dead.

He didn't want to think like that, but he knew that he had to face facts; he had to face the inevitable, although he didn't want to.

Pain, uncontrollable, unrelenting, merciless pain, had spread around his body. He was finding it nearly impossible to take a deep breath, and when he did manage to, he ended up screaming in pain. God, he could not take this.

He was the boy-version of Cristina and the only emotion he had ever willingly let show was anger, and even then he didn't want to. He was always determined to not turn out like his dad, and so far he had hopefully made a success of it.

Not that it mattered now anyway. He was a dead man.

Painfully, the young and dying doctor rolled onto his back. The amount of blood he saw now struck a new chord of fear in his heart. It was confirming his terrifying thoughts. It was confirming that the chances of his surviving this were the chances of George O'Malley being alive.

So he was going to die then.

Against his better will, he closed his eyes, unable to fight off the sleep any longer. He knew that he might not wake up. Yet, only a few minutes later he did. To his girlfriend/re-bound girl and her ex boyfriend. If he wasn't fighting for his life he would have called this awkward.

_**A/N: This is the prologue, and is really, and I mean really, alike my other story 'Elevator thoughts.' The next chapter is already longer, I promise!  
**_


	2. Chapter 1: We do it all

_**Authors note: Another chapter! **_

_**Disclaimer: Own Sofia and Amy, no one else. **_

_**Chapter one: We'll do it all.**_

You hear some people talking, but it's so distant. You aren't sure if you are dead or alive, considering you got shot at close range. You open your eyes and decided that something is really wrong because George O'Malley is sitting in the corner and so is Denny the person who stole Izzie off you twice if you count hallucinating. You then see a twenty-one year old girl that you would recognise immediately because she is your twin sister and you will never forget her. You realise that this is worse than you thought because people surround you that you know are dead. They are looking at you – well, Amy is, and Denny is glaring at you, and George just looks really bored – and you wonder if you should speak.

"You're not dead before you even bother asking and don't ask anything else because I really hate today because this place which I liked kind of is now turning into hell because you of all people are here." Denny answers the unspoken question with another glare. George and Amy give him the 'shut up!' look, which you have been in the receiving end of for years.

"Feel free to ask questions and ignore the big annoyed guy over there. He's always like this." Amy tells you softly. You hear the strain in her voice. You know that she doesn't want to believe this.

"You know why you're here, right?" George asks you. You shake your head. He just rolls his eyes, expecting you to know this but he doesn't push. "You're in limbo Karev. You know you were shot, right, cos I'm new to this. He-" George points to Denny. "Is an expert but he hates you. He really, really hates you."

"I know I was shot, I know I should be dead. But dude, my dead sister and YOU are here giving me that weird look. I have a right to be freaked out." You answer in that carefree voice. Amy and George see right through it, but Denny just nods before disappearing.

"Well this is limbo. Anyone connected with Seattle Grace comes here when they a) die or b) are dying and slash or are close to dying." Amy smiles brightly. "You've been in limbo before so you should know what it means you dunce."

"Hold on, he's been in limbo before?" George asks your sister. They are way to close for your liking but when you are sitting on an ER trauma bed and trying to get a grip of the situation you realise that you can't do much to stop it.

"Yeah. When I died, I told you about that right?" You watch George nod. "Well, he was nearly-dead too, he went into a coma and all that. Kind of like now expect it was a head trauma and not shock." You raise your eyebrows. "I have been with the dead docs since you started 'Sea-G' as Denny puts it, six years ago. I pick up things." She sends another smirk at George.

"So, when do they know I'm dead then?" You ask. The pair of them looks up at you, and the smirk is wiped of their faces. You stare right back at them.

"You better not be giving up Karev." You hear George say at the same time that you hear Amy saying:

"Are you crazy Alex?" You remind yourself not to get on her bad side.

"You are not dead. You idiot. I would be really annoyed if you were, spending eternity with you." You notice the look Amy sends him, and it worries you but you don't say anything.

"Does it matter?" Now they were shocked into silence by your words. You watch them with a look of self-pity. No one would care anyway.

"Oh stop being so selfish and self-pitying!" Amy glares at you. "People care. Izzie – I can't believe she left you…"

*P.O.V change. *

"Stay on the subject Amy. Izzie is stupid we all know that." Amy nodded at George. He continued for her. "Meredith can't lose you. She had a miscarriage." Alex's eyes widened. "Shepherd was shot. She is gonna need you." George finished.

"You can't die on Amber, or Aaron. Amber really is gonna need you soon, and Aaron is gonna need his big brother." Amy used the family thing.

George went back to his friends. "Sofia is really gonna need you. I'm not gonna be there." Again, Alex did not miss the look Amy sent George. "And she is really gonna need you."

"In a few months they all will need you." Amy said softly, but Alex still wasn't convinced. Amy and George shared a look. This was going to be he harder than they had thought.

X

Three days had passed.

"How's Owen?" Teddy asked the second she spotted Cristina walking through the corridor. She had just been in Alex's room and still felt annoyed. Alex was currently the only critical patient from the shooting. They had transferred all of the shooting patients back to Seattle Grace (in the rooms that weren't currently crime scenes), and Alex had crashed over three times.

Cristina smiled. Even if she hated the other doctor, nothing could ruin today. "He's doing fine, thank you. How are your patients?"

"Not good." She muttered bitterly. "You're one of Karev's friends right?" Cristina nodded, although she didn't like the way that this conversation was leading. "You have his families contact details?" The two had started walking down the corridor now.

"No, he never talks about his family. Mer should have them... But, if you don't mind me asking, why would he need his family details?"

"You don't know?" Cristina shook her head. She had already guessed from how Teddy was speaking that something had happened to Alex. It could only be something like a concussion or something. She hoped. "Cristina, he came in with a GSW to the chest. Lexie and Mark found him half-dead-" No need for medical words, Cristina would read his chart anyway. "In an elevator. He... He shouldn't be alive, Cristina, he's in a coma."

Cristina's mouth dropped ever so slightly. Shouldn't be alive. Coma. GSW, gunshot wound. Chest. Half dead. "Oh." Her reply sounded so simple, so emotionless, that Teddy almost believed that Cristina didn't care. Almost believed, but she knew Cristina, not well, but she still knew her. She knew that Cristina wouldn't want to let on how she was feeling.

And with that Cristina took of down the corridor, to the room that Meredith and Derek were in. Teddy sighed. Telling them would have been worse than telling Alex's family.

X

Meredith averted her eyes from her sleeping husband as an unusually emotional Cristina burst into the private room. "Cristina?"

"It's been three days and none of us even called him." She admitted.

Meredith stood up, confusion etched into her pale and sleep-deprived features. "Cristina, what are you talking about?" She asked. "Who's 'him'?"

Cristina let out a shaking breath. Meredith's worry grew. Since when did Cristina act like this? This wasn't normal. Wasn't right. Cristina acting like this meant bad things, and bright-new-and-shiny Meredith didn't like bad anymore, bad was not a bright-new-and-shiny thing. Bad was a dark-and-twisty Meredith thing. Not new.

"Alex." With that one simple name, Meredith realized everything. It had been three days since that... thing that she couldn't call by it's name yet, and not one of the had bothered to find out if their friend was okay. She had been too occupied with her post-it husband. Cristina had Owen to worry about. "GSW to the chest. Mer, the chest." Meredith's eyes widened.

Alex had been shot. Derek had been shot. Owen had been shot. She had lost her unborn baby. Charles had died. Reed had died. April had tripped over her best friends dead body and was probably mentally scarred for life. Dr Bailey had actually cried. That was all in one day.

The next few minutes went in slow motion for the two best friends. They stared into each other's eyes. Meredith kept her hand on Derek's but was releasing her grip ever so slightly. Cristina was still. Still, standing still, frozen, there were so many words to describe her. Shocked. That was the word that described them both, the only mutual description. Guilt was another one. They had been so occupied with the men that they had fallen in love with, so worried about them, that they hadn't checked on one of the most important men in their lives.

Mark Sloan, a heart-broken man, walked in on the pair. Seeing their stare, and seeing that Derek was still breathing, made him sigh. "You two heard about Karev?" They nodded. "Want his room number?" They nodded again. If the situation had of been different Mark would have laughed. "ICU, room 7" He smiled slightly and watched the two women race from the room faster than he had ever seen another person go. He tilted his head to the side and looked at Derek, who had one eye open. "Overbearing women, yeah, I know."

X

Sofia sat in a seat in the left corner of Alex's room watching her friend, Lexie, intently. She was worried for the younger doctor. "Lex…" She said kindly. "You heard what they said. He's in a coma, and he isn't gonna wake up today." It had been three days and six hours, and so far Alex had not woken up. Lexie seemed to ignore everyone when they had said that he was in a coma. "Lexie, you have to eat." Again, Sofia received no answer. "Lex, is this what Alex would want?" It was low but she had to say it.

Lexie sighed. Her best friend was right but she didn't want to. She knew that she didn't love Alex, and he didn't love her, but she had still said it. "Fine. Just remember that I hate you for this." She mumbled grumpily.

Typical of Lexie to be grumpy. Sofia rolled her eyes. "Okay, you are coming with- Cristina. Meredith." Sofia nodded in greeting to the pair as they walked in. "I'm taking Lex for something to eat, page **me** if anything happens. Not her, because then she won't eat, and it has taken me three days to get her to even consider it so I am not blowing this." She smiled before grabbing Lexie by the arm and physically pulling her out of the room.

Looked like she was on keep-Lexie-alive duty again, and keeping Alex alive too. Just her god dammed luck.

Meredith nodded back, but her eyes never left Alex. He looked like a ghost because he was that pale. People could mistake him for a corpse. His skin was a pasty-grey like colour. He looked worse than Derek. She felt like crying, after everything she had been through, nearly losing Derek, losing her child, and now this. Her best friend, Alex, had been shot. This shouldn't happen to them. She always wondered what they had done to deserve this: Izzie getting cancer, George dying, this. It seemed like the entire world was against them, like it was impossible for them to go a year without some sort of a traumatic incident.

Cristina was in just as much shock as Meredith. Her and Alex weren't very close, but they were still friends. She didn't want to look at Alex anymore; his pale face was so terrifying that she couldn't. Fear. It was something everyone knew that she didn't like and/or want to feel. She had been scared when she found out about crazy-gunman. She had been afraid when she saw who the crazy-gunman was. She had been beyond afraid when she saw Derek get shot. She had been absolutely terrified when crazy-gunman had the gun pointed at her head, and when Owen had been shot. She didn't like it. So instead of looking at Alex, Cristina grabbed his chart from the desk at the foot of his bed and read through it. She absorbed every word carefully, not missing out a single letter, character or even the useless data like the name and the DOB. She didn't know why she did it but she felt like if she treated him as a patient then that was all he would be, not her friend, not hanging onto life.

"We found him in an elevator." Mark had arrived in the room. Neither of the women had noticed him until now but they could both bet that Derek had sent him. He sensed that they wanted to know how this had happened. "The guy was shooting at us, I grabbed Lex and ran towards the elevator." He informed them. "We found him, with…" He shook his head. "I think they're gonna replace the elevator floor cos there was that much." He sighed and leant against the doorframe that he was standing in. Cristina finally looked away from the chart in her shaking hands. "We operated on him, put a chest tube in while he was awake. Only had a few painkillers with us. Not even the good ones." Meredith swallowed; she hadn't known anything like this. "He started hallucinating. Called Lexie Izzie."

"Oh."

X

Amy looked at Alex. They hadn't had any look in three days and she knew that every second counted. She glanced at George, and an idea struck into her mind. George noticed the spark in her eyes and groaned inwardly before disappearing, Amy smiled and followed him. Alex just watched the pair and sighed.

There was no point in him going back. He hated life without Izzie

X

George looked at Amy. God help me, he thought to himself. "We should tell him." She said simply. The two were sitting on the floor with their heads leaning against a wall, both next to each other.

Already knowing the answer to his question, George asked. "Tell him what?" She looked at him. "No. No way. You cannot tell him." She pleaded at him with her eyes. "The answer is no, and it will always be no. I am not doing that to them. You know what's gonna happen to Mer, and to Sofia and to Avery." Amy sighed. "And your sister." Amy winced.

"So!" She stood up, so he did the same. "He can't die!" She put his hand on one side of his head, which was still leaning against the wall. "Look, I know what you are going through is hard and all that, but you have to stop lying to them! They are your friends and they need to know. Sofia, Avery, Meredith, Cristina, all of the ones you mentioned with the exception of Amber, need you. You, George, not your memory." She was on the verge of yelling now, and was letting her anger get out of control.

"You don't think I know that? But it has been months. Months, not days Amy, you know that. They grieved, they buried me, I'm dead to them and it is going to stay that way." George was also letting his anger become to uncontrolled, but he never shouted.

"George. He is my twin brother. I remember everything that happened that day, every single god-dammed thing. Every time he kicked Alex and me. Yelling at Aaron and Amber to get help." Her voice cracked. "You remember everything too. And you NEED to tell him."

"And what if it goes wrong? You wan Alex to tell them that?" Amy looked at the floor, an obvious no. "Same." She looked up, having tears in her eyes. "He isn't gonna die."

_**Authors note: Please review! **_


	3. Chapter 2: Everything, on our own

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Been stuck at home with the worst cold/sore throat/chest infection/headache. It is evil people! **_

_**And I am going to write a story based on Amy and Alex as children soon, so keep an eye out of it. I'm gonna call it 'Where did you go?' I think, but I might change it.**_

_**And this chapter is DAY FOUR!**_

_**Disclaimer: Own nothing.**_

_**REVISED: Half an hour or so after updating!  
**_

_**Chapter two: Everything, on our own. **_

"Still." George tried his best not to roll his eyes. "You should tell them you're alive." George looked at Amy. She smirked. "Okay, okay. I give up." She laughed.

X

Meredith looked at Alex. She was currently working, in Alex's room. Not planned at all, completely a coincidence that Teddy had sent her to check on him. She checked his vitals, and all the other important stuff, before she took a seat next to his bed. "Hey Alex." She greeted. This felt really, really strange. Talking to a guy who couldn't even hear her. "We have no patients, well, barely any. Most of them are too scared to come here and us, the people who were actually there, the people who had guns pointed at them, are coming in every day for work." She swallowed nervously and played with a lock of hair that had fallen into her eyes. "Cristina is going crazy with the no-surgery." Meredith chuckled lightly.

The constant beeping that filled the room was kind of a relief. It meant that he was alive. "I visited you yesterday." She sighed. This was weird. She recalled her experience and smiled. She wondered if he was seeing George and Denny. Meredith bit her lip to stop herself laughing. Alex and Denny. God, that was funny. Amy, she was the only one who knew. After his brother came and went, after he had said that 'you're nothing like your mother' and she'd said 'You're nothing like his father', they – well, he – had gotten seriously drunk. He told her everything. She had never been so shaken before in her life. She didn't tell anyone – his doctors would know from his records – because she knew what he was like about his past. He'd shown her the few pictures he had of Amy. She had been twenty-one when she died. Technically it was 10, because she was in a coma till she was twenty-one. She woke up for a day before going into cardiac arrest and dying. She remembered that, on the 5th of June, she had been really horrible to Alex when they were interns and back then she didn't really like him. She remembered him crying in the locker room that night.

_You're walking towards the locker room to get your stuff but you freeze outside at the sound of soft crying. You bite your lip. You know that it is a guy, and you wonder if something has happened to Izzie because that is the only thing that will get George upset. Then you remember that George took today off. You continue to bite your lip as you look into the window in the door. You can only see half of his face and his eyes are closed so you know that he won't see you 'spying'. You feel guilt creep up on you. Was Alex upset because of you? You had only called him 'Devil Spawn' once or twice… Okay! 5 times. But still, you aren't sure what to do. You notice that he is holding a picture in his hand and sigh in relief. It's probably just a girl… Oh, who am I kidding? Alex wouldn't get this upset over a girl! Then again, you don't really know him all that well. You make a vow to get to know him better as you walk away and give him some privacy. (You lock the door, he can still unlock it but no one else can get in.) It is a small act of kindness that you hope will become a friendship. _

The 5th of June, the day his sister died. She guessed that was the reason that he hated birthdays, because he shared it with her. She recently put that day, and his birthday, on the day to be nice to Alex and keep Cristina away from Alex list of days. "You know, Erm, Owen is thinking of proposing to Cristina. I think it's a good idea, cos' he took a bullet to try and save Derek." Her eyes widened. "Oh God, I'm an idiot!" Pause. "I forgot to tell you. Derek was hot. Owen was shot. Avery is smarter than I thought. Gary Clarke is dead. He killed himself in front of Richard so we're okay." She sighed. "I need you to wake up Alex. You're… You're like my brother. You're the closest I've ever had to one anyway, you and George tied, don't worry." A frown appeared on her exhausted face. "I can't sleep Alex. Every time I close my eyes I see him shooting Derek, and I saw the elevator you were in yesterday and that was all I could think about. And Derek tries his best but he's on a lot of painkillers and I need you to tell me that it will be okay. Okay?" Tears formed in her eyes but she blinked them away. "I half-expected you to answer that." She sighed at her own stupidity before leaving the room.

X

You realise that limbo is a strange place. Sometimes it is the E.R., and other times it is blackness. Amy and George keep disappearing but you heard parts of their conversation. You hear Amy say things like 'Tell them' and 'I remember'. You aren't sure what they are talking about and honestly you don't want to know. Then, when it's black you hear things like hospital machinery and Meredith. Once you had heard Sofia trying to convince Lexie to get something to eat. "Cristina is going crazy with the no-surgery." You hear before you fade back into the E.R. All you want to do is wake up but you can't stand life.

X

"Is he awake?" George whispered to Amy, who was standing next to him. The pair both studied Alex in an almost comical way.

"If I knew wouldn't I have said?" Amy replied, annoyed. "Dunce." She muttered her favourite word under her breath. Alex, who was awake but kept his eyes closed, nearly smirked. His sister had the mental age of a very sarcastic 10-year old, but she could be serious, sometimes.

"Hey! Have a go at him. Not me. I haven't done anything to you!" George snapped back. Alex decided to keep George in his misery, because no one could win a fight/argument against Amy except for him.

"Yeah you have!" Alex fought to keep his eyes closed and his smirk off his face. "You won't tell him, or them, the truth. You keep saying that you don't want to hurt them, but they are still hurting. Sofia has half of your clothes at her house… Not that I know this Sofia, I just check up on Alex and when he and her, well, you know." What!

George smirked at Alex's reaction to the news. Alex opened his eyes wide and looked - glared - at George and Amy as he remembered that night.

X

Sofia, who was sitting in the corner of his room, had never looked up from a book so fast. Her stomach dropped as she ran outside. "I need a crash cart in here!" She ran beck in and started to prepare Alex by removing the blankets from around him. Nurses job or not, she couldn't afford to lose time. "Don't die on me Karev, I never got to remind you." The attending muttered as Richard Webber began to try and revive Alex.

X

Meredith was currently eating a sandwich in the cafeteria with Lexie and Cristina. She intended to go see Derek straight after she had finished (she would have just skipped it, but Sofia ordered her to, and no one would ever go against that attending when she is angry). However, her plans were put on hold at the sound of her – and two other – pagers going off. She muttered, "Damn," under her breath before she read it. 911. Code blue. Flat line, they all described the words on the pager.

_911, Karev. Get here. Sofia. Bring Neuro and Cardio (Cristina). _

"Dammit!" Lexie was the first to leave.

"Oh God." Then Meredith. Cristina paged Dr Winters before silently following the two Grey sisters.

_**A/N: Shorter than I planned but I hope you like it anyway! I am planning to write a one-two-or-three-shot tonight for the Alex/Sofia one-night stand thing. Please review!**_


	4. Chapter 3: We don't need anything

_**A/N: Thanks for the reviews!**_

_**Disclaimer: Own nothing! **_

_**Chapter three: We don't need anything.**_

Meredith sat in the chair, needing to sit down after that. Sofia was probably creating a hole in the floor due to her excessive pacing. And Cristina… She was just reading through the chart as if they just hadn't seen their best friend nearly die. Neither Meredith nor Sofia said anything about it; they knew it was her coping technique.

Izzie had baking, as everyone knew and put weight on because of. George… Meredith shook her head; George married Callie because of his. Meredith had… dark and twisty Meredith would keep it all bottled up and then let herself drown, new Meredith would talk about it. Cristina read charts and ignored the facts before breaking down. Sofia cried, wore old tops, looked at photos and listened to depressive music. Alex, well, he didn't really have one, he just dealt with it and moved on.

X

Amy sighed. She was bored. Really bored, as in over the top, driving George crazy bored. "Look Alex. You need a reason. You need to say the reason that is if you want to go back. I really don't need to be convincing you in a few months like I am with." George elbowed her gently to remind her. "This guy who maybe died under Dr Carter who was helping in trauma that day because the crazy English chick." George did his best not to groan. Don't guess. Don't guess.

X

"You should stop pacing. You could wake him up." Cristina commented, looking at Sofia pointedly.

Sofia glared at her. "That is what we want." She groaned. "Don't say you don't want that because I know you like Alex – as a friend." She added at Meredith's 'Oh my God' look. "And don't say that you don't care because we all do." Sofia stopped for a second. "And he could be brain dead and I honest to god hate the guy in tonight, and don't say get someone else. Half of the residents, interns, and two of the attending's – that I thought I trusted - quit, some died, so I can't and I am-"

"Sofia! Stop talking!" Meredith yelled. Sofia stopped talking, surprised at the anger in the voice. She then started to pace. Meredith just rolled her eyes and let a small laugh escape her.

"She either talks or paces." She smiled. Her eyes were aimed anywhere but the pale figure in the middle of the room. If she looked at him she would cry and she had cried too much in the past few days.

Cristina did care. She did like Alex. She just never told him. Alex was her friend – even if he was devil spawn – and this was a major blow to her life. As if both Owen and Derek being shot wasn't bad enough. "I do care." She whispered. Sofia stopped pacing and her head snapped up. A small, barely noticeable, smile was sent in Cristina's direction. A sign of reassuring kindness.

"We know. I just rant on-and-on and on and on and on and-"

"We get the point!" Cristina and Meredith said instinctively, and at the same time.

"Okay, good. Getting the point is a good thing…" Sofia started her 'Pacing, rambling, and talking to self' reaction again as she started to walk quickly in one certain area.

10 minutes passed before she stopped. "Finally! Oh, wait, Addision?"

_**A/N: Short because of hospital appointments and tons of research+ medical hornal reading that I have to do for parents. Yay me! Oh, and I had to bring Addy back **____** Review?**_


	5. Chapter 4: Or anyone

_**A/N: Please review! This chapter isn't just the group joking. It is more! No need to worry! Really sorry for the lack of George, and Alex, and Amy but this is to deal with some of the other issues taht should be raised because of evil-finale which I love!  
**_

_**Disclaimer: Own nothing! **_

_**Chapter four: Or anyone**_

"Hey." Addison greeted with a small smile. "I, erm, have Karev's results. He's not brain dead, they are still running some tests on him to see why he coded but they think that it has something to do with one of the ribs and they might take him into surgery in an hour or two, when we get a surgeon which I realised is really hard here because everywhere is empty which can be expected considering everything that happened." She swallowed uncomfortably. "I heard on the news and called Mark… Could one of you say something? 'Hi' even an 'I hate you'?" Sofia smiled for a second, before hugging her friend.

"I hate you for moving to L.A, you know that right?" Addison, who was looking at her former lover over Sofia's shoulder, smiled.

"Yeah." She replied. "Is he showing any signs of waking up?" Cristina, Meredith and Sofia shook their heads.

Sofia had, by now, pulled away from Addison and took up one of the two spare chairs in the room. "He lost a lot of blood… We still don't know why he coded. Could be some internal bleeding we missed. There was a lot of O.R time needed with the two hospitals. We've only just been allowed full access of everywhere, well, except for one elevator. They actually are replacing the floor." Addison was used to the rambling by now, so just sat in the chair furthest away from anyone who could hate her.

"How's Derek, I cam straight here and they said he had been discharged." Addison asked Meredith. God this was awkward.

"He's at home. His family are there now, and I was working. Just clocked off actually. Don't think anyone really expects me to work anyway." She smiled a smile that couldn't reach her eyes. She wouldn't smile a real smile, a pain-free smile, until everyone was okay again.

"God, I really don't wanna be the bitch but…"

"You are one 50 percent of the time."

"Nice Yang, I'm only an attending, a senior attending. Actually, Webbers taking two weeks off. I'm the chief tomorrow… In 10 minutes."

Cristina did her best not to groan. "Either way, I'm being that person. You – with the exception of Addison – have all gotta be in by 9 in the morning. 9, peoples, not 2. I know we've all done the 48 hour shifts. But you need to sleep. I know you have been living off coffee and probably can't sleep, but Mer. You need to see Derek. Cristina, you need to see Owen. I need to go be nice to Jackson cos' Charles and Reed's funerals are tomorrow and I can't be there because Webber is off and I need to keep this place running and Sloan is still hung up on Lexie so I can't get him to keep the place under control. He wouldn't last five minutes. And then there's the whole Karev being lazy. God, he never remembers a thing. We had a one-night stand years ago and he didn't remember and-"

"You and Karev?" Addison, Meredith and Cristina all chorused together. They knew that they were only doing this to ignore the real life, the real pain, the man in the room next to them and they were avoiding. Those three women were the queens of avoiding topics close to their hearts, avoiding things that hurt and things that matter, avoiding emotions and how they felt. That was what they did.

"Years ago. You know when you and George swore off relationships…Erm, 5th of July." She supplied. Meredith's expression turned into an understanding one. Sofia met her eyes and shook her head so slightly that it was barely noticeable. Meredith nodded.

"You remember the exact date?" Addison giggled.

"HOLD ON!" Meredith nearly yelled. "That thing you told me when George told you to take the day off because of the thing wasn't Alex's thing was it?"

"What's the – No. No way. Devil Spawn has-d had, a- No freaking way." Cristina stuttered.

"I swore I remember telling you all to get some sleep." Sofia muttered. "Yes, Meredith, it was." She couldn't hide the sadness in her eyes. Meredith couldn't hide it in hers to. Meredith hadn't even met her kid, yet she still loved it more than she ever could. She tried to hold back the tears, but she found she couldn't. "Mer? What's wrong?"

"Meredith?" Cristina was already moving over to her person. Sofia and Addison – as weird as it felt – were both behind her. "What's wrong?" Please let it just be the crazy mood-swings.

Meredith just sobbed. She hadn't told anyone. She had made Owen and April promise to not tell anyone. She wanted to tell Derek. She really did. But every time she tried, she had been too numb to feel anything, and she didn't want him thinking that she was horrible.

"Mer? Please answer me. You have to tell us what's up. Even Addison is worried. Addison." Sofia knelt down, Addison next to her, and looked at her friend. Cristina sat next to Meredith and had her arms around her. When Meredith didn't answer Sofia put a hand on her leg and rubbed it comfortingly. She had done this when Izzie had cancer and was in surgery and it had worked then. She just hoped that it would work now.

"I lost the baby." Meredith whispered the four words that managed to shock the room into silence. Addison was in shock because she had never seen Meredith like this. Then again, she hadn't really been best friend with her either.

_**A/N: Would make it longer but being yelled at to get to bed! **_


	6. Chapter 5: If I lay here,

_**A/N: This makes sense: I get my laptop back, it works for half an hour, then all of the things that I can write on decided to get messed up. I had the whole first part of the chapter written up and then, 'OpenOffice is not responding' or 'OpenOffice is not working. Windows trying to repair problem' or something like that. So me angry. Very angry. I had to rewrite this on FanFic. Another reason to be mad: I had 12 one-shots I wanted to finish off and I can't open them! Not fair! And all teh movie makers are messed up too.. Me very angry. Oh, and thanks for the reviews! :) **_

_**First part is set the day of the shooting, but the rest (aka Meredith looked up) is set on DAY FIVE.  
**_

_**Warning: Mentions of child abuse. Nothing explicit though, just the words.  
**_

_**Disclaimer: I only own Sofia and Amy. I do not own Grey's Anatomy or anything associated with it.**_

_**Chapter five: If I lay here.**_

_A brother is a friend God gave you; a friend is a brother your heart chose for you._

Amy Karev wandered around the apartment that she shared with her brother aimlessly. Again, her thoughts were lost in tales of what Alex was up to in Seattle. She missed him, and she really needed him to get back, or to call. One thing made her want this even more. She couldn't remember what he sounded like. She sighed and made her way into the living room to watch some TV. She was bored and she didn't want to think about Alex. She did though. Ever since Amy's death he had been so distant. A sigh escaped her as she fell down onto the couch and turned on the TV using the remote.

"Seattle Grace Hospital was hit by tragedy today as a grieving widower started fire." She nearly screamed. Aaron had entered behind her, but he, like her, was frozen in shock. Seattle Grace hospital was Alex's hospital. "Over fifteen staff members were killed during the three-hour lock down, even more injured." The female reported continued. "Among the dead are Dr Charles Percy, and Dr Reed Adamson. The hearts of the nation go out to their families." She paused, as if taking in some new information. "Chief Shepherd." Aaron swallowed. That was the guy married to Alex's friend. Let Alex be okay. "and Dr Hunt, are so far the only stable and surviving injured doctors. Unfortunately, there is another doctor who was injured. Dr Karev." Amber did scream this time. No! Not her brother. Not him. "Acting-Chief Webber informed us that he is currently the only critical patient, and that he is currently in a coma." The woman paused again. Amber hadn't noticed her brother moving around the apartment quickly and packing their bags. "The shooter has been unidentified by the police, but reports say that he killed himself after his shooting spree." The woman had a look of disgust on her face. Amber had a look of fear. "On other news..." The woman's speech was drowned out by her crying. She wasn't a doctor. She didn't want to be. But she knew what coma meant, she had seen people in them before. Two people actually. Amy, and she had only been awake one day before she died. Alex, and he just hadn't been the same. He didn't need to go through it again. Not her Alex. Not him again.

"Amber." His voice. She heard him. Aaron, the only one who had stayed sane after the last fight. That was what she called it. Last fight, the very last fight. That was how Alex had told her to see it, as their daddy having a wrestling or a boxing match with them. Now she knew it was more than that, but she stayed with the names. Every fight had came down to this one. The one where their dad would be taken by the police. The one where their mum would be taken by the 'medicine men' to get better because she always had them rough patches. Always. The one where Amy didn't open her eyes until a long time later. The one where Alex got really ill, and couldn't be happy, or be better for a long time. That was what that fight had meant to her then, because she had been a child back then. Their crazy musical dad - an abuser. Medicine men - psychiatrists, taking mum to deal with a mental illness and sectiing her. Fight - abuse, childhood abuse. Rough patch - depression, suicidal depression.

No wonder they were all so messed up, but Alex had it worse than her and Aaron. He had been the one who got her and Aaron out of the house. He had been the one who got beat up, while protecting them. Him and Amy were her saviors. "Amber, come on. You wanna go see Alex? I've told work the situation and we have paid leave. I think Alex will want to see you." Slowly, she nodded and got up. Alex. She was going to see Alex. Alex in a coma. She was going to see her comatose brother again.

God help her.

* * *

Meredith looked up as a familiar - and an unfamiliar - figure - figures - entered her room. Aaron Karev. They must have heard. "Aaron? Oh, God, I'm sorry, we didn't call. It's been kidn of hetic here. Obviously. No one comes into work anymore, and our chief and trauma attending are both off and-" She stopped herself before she went into rambling mode. Stop channeling Sofia. After her breakdown in front of Cristina, Addison (Seriously?) and Sofia, the new-acting chief (replacing Webber while he took the day off) had decided to give Meredith a few days off. She was kinda pleased as it meant that she could spend more time with Alex. She just, didn't want him to be alone.

"It's okay." He whispered, looking at his brother. Alex was still a ghostly-white shade of pale, he had a ventilator in his throat, breathing for him. His brother couldn't even breathe on his own, how bad is that? He wasn't a doctor, but anyone could tell that this was bad. The bandages that were on Alex's chest had a stain of blood on, dark crimson. It was only small, but he knew it was a lot as it had seeped through many layers of white, thick bandage. "How... How bad is it? Be honest, please."

"He... He should be dead." Amber let out a choked sob. "But he's a fighter. He, he's going into surgery in a few minutes. They, with. He was taken to a different hospital first because ours was out of use and with two hospitals being merged together there was a lot of people waiting and rushing. Alex had been operated on in a conference room before, they out a tube to drain out the blood, so they thought he wasn't as serious-"

"He was, asleep right?" Meredith shook her head.

"Found in an elevator, and Lexie and Mark didn't have an O.R like I did with Derek, so he was awake, and without painkillers. Erm, they missed something in the first surgery, some bleeding. They're gonna go check it out soon." She tried to give them a reassuring smile, but it did nothing. "I take it you're Amber?" Amber nodded, unable to look at the woman sitting next to Alex, unable to tear her eyes away from her brothers face.

He didn't look so different. Older, that was for sure, but not very different. Nice, older brother, different. He was too pale though. Paler than the first time, and paler than Amy had been. No one should be that pale. It wasn't fair. They could just blend into the sheets, and people would just miss them or not notice them so it was not fair on the person. Everyone liked to be noticed after all, right?

Two porters entered the room, with a Doctor behind them. "Alex's brother and sister. Aaron and Amber." Meredith supplied for the doctor.

Teddy smiled and shook hands with Aaron, but Amber was too focused on her brother to even notice the rooms newest occupants. "Dr Altman. Grey," Teddy turned to Meredith. "Any changes?" She meant in Derek too. Meredith shook her head. Derek was doing perfectly fine and was starting to walk around the house with ease, but was still on quite a few pain killers. Alex was still unresponsive and completely comatose. It seemed like they were complete opposites, and in many senses they were. One was fine, one was not. However, they shared a lot of things. They both had been shot in the chest. They both loved her, Derek as a husband and Alex as a brother or a friend (she hoped so at least because she loved him in that way.) Meredith glanced at Aaron and closed her eyes. His family was here. What if they didn't want her to stay with him whenever she could."Okay. Mr Karev-"

"It's Aaron, Mr Karev is my dad. Don't wanna end up like him." Alex was also unlike his brother in so many ways, but so alike, Meredith commented silently. They both shared a treacherous childhood, and they both shared a brotherly bond that nothing could break. But Alex was so closed up, so protective about is feelings and about his past, while Aaron could talk about it easily. It did make her wonder.

Find something that didn't make her wonder. You would be a first.

"Oh, okay." Clearly - to Meredith at least - Teddy felt uncomfortable, but no one in the room passed comment. "Alex is being taken into surgery now."

"She's already explained it." Amber whispered ever so softly. Meredith looked surprised at the voice - not the words. It was so soft, not rough like Alex's and not reassuring like Aaron's (and Alex's at times). It was a contrast - a deep and detailed one - to what she normally dealt with, or listened to. Doctors had learnt to not show their emotions, so that their patients couldn't tell if they were worried or not. If they thought a certain surgery was really worrying them or not. It came with the job, but that didn't mean that they liked it. "Do you know how long it'll be?" Her voice seemed stronger now, as if she had gotten a grip on reality and was refusing to let go.

"About three, to four hours. Possibly five." Teddy answered confidently. Amber nodded absently. She wanted to scream that this couldn't be happening, that the man lying half-dead and dying in the bed was not her brother. But it was. She wanted to cry, for every thing that had gone wrong in her messed up life. She needed her sister back, and she needed her brother back and she needed her family - except her mum and dad - to be healthy and alive and okay again. But that wasn't going to happen. She wanted to kick and throw things around a room to get rid of the anger she felt inside of her when she thought of the man who had done this to Alex, to her, and to her family. But she couldn't.

It just wasn't fair, Amber thought as she watched them wheel away her brother. Please let him be okay.

Please let him live, she begged.

* * *

He would recognise that soft voice anywhere, and that rough one. His brother and sister were in Seattle. "I told you they still cared," Amy commented, looking at her brother. "Look, Alex, you can't just ignore this. You can't just give-"

"Shut up!" He yelled. "Just shut up! I am tired of people telling me what I can't do. 'You can't give up', what the hell? Do you think I want to give up?" Amy was shocked by her brothers outburst, George was too. "I want to go back, of course I do, but I don't want to at the same time. Why should I go back? Izzie is gone, the one thing I love, the one thing that I cared the most about in my life, is gone. She left me and I don't know how to live without her. I can't live without her. I would die for Izzie and I want her back. But no, she isn't coming back because nothing in my life ever stays the same. You died," He pointed to Amy, then to George. "People died. They move on, simple as. They will move on. So what does it matter if I die? People just live life and forget, or try to forget, they will thing about you but then move on. I want to be forgotten because I. Can't. Live. I cannot go on without Izzie. I love her and she left and if I live that will happen, the people I love leave." Amy looked at him, and found herself for the first time in her life - and afterlife - speechless.

_**A/N: Really, really, really tired now. Falling awake. As you can probably tell if you saw Six Days, I have been listening to Six days part one and two at the same time as writing this and have the song stuck in my head. Perfect sad song to go with a sad episode, although 'Mad world' would have been much better. Please review and share your thoughts on this chapter and this story! :)**_

**_Katrina x:P  
_**


	7. Chapter 6: If I just lay here

_**Disclaimer: I only own Sofia and Amy. I do not own Grey's Anatomy or anything associated with it.**_

_**A/N: Some Alex/Iz in this chapter as well as some long awaited MerDer. Now, I would have updated sooner, but my week has been very hetic. I've been ill myself, now my whole family (with the exception of me and my younger brother) is ill. Not good when two members of the family - including me - are going into surgery. Then major arguments with friend, which are becoming an all-too-often occurrence for me, then getting two of my friends into GA, then a lot more stuff. Hetic = understatement.  
**_

_**Random and includes spoilers in this A.N: I HATE OWEN! HE HURT THE PIGS. I want to be a surgeon -due to the fact that I know A LOT of them - so I am SOO glad that part is fiction. How could he just do that? (I'm an animal lover).  
**_

_**Chapter five: If I just lay here**_

_I probably wouldn't be this way. I probably wouldn't hurt this bad. I never pictured every minute without you in it, oh you left so fast. _- Probably wouldn't be this way, LeAnn Rimes. _  
_

She was furious, absolutely uncontrollably furious. She hated her chief, she hated her job, she hated her life. She hated the fact that the man she loved was currently lying in a coma and she wasn't allowed to go see him. It made sense - to a doctor, but not to her. Okay, so she passed out in the O.R. Why should she have to stay? She had to get to Alex, which was why the chief had made sure that a nurse was outside her room at all times to make sure she didn't go to Seattle without his permission.

Izzie could never be underestimated.

She didn't have a brain tumour, she knew that from the scans. She knew that it was just exhaustion and that the chief was about to come lecture her about taking care of herself in a few minutes. But Alex. Alex had been shot. She was in shock, while being angry. What if he died? What if he had signed some DNR (she didn't know why she thought that, but Meredith had told her that Alex had been really upset lately ever since his brother had compared him to his father). What if Alex was Alex and wouldn't wake up until they were all one hundred and twenty?

Her imagination was too big for her own good sometimes, and this was one of them as her mind was filled with unreasonable 'what if' scenario's which in most cases ended up in heartbreak or death.

He had to be okay. Let her overactive imagination be wrong and let him be okay.

* * *

Meredith curled up to her recovering husband while the pair of them sat in silence on the bed. She couldn't sleep again, and he slept most of the day so he was awake anyway. "This didn't happen." She whispered, Derek looked at her in confusion. "I mean, it shouldn't. We've been through enough. We had Denny dying in Izzie, we had Burke leaving Cristina, we've had Callie and George, and then we've had tons of other stuff. Alex and Ava, Sofia losing her kid," Derek was unable to miss the look of hurt and pain that flashed through her eyes at the few words. He knew it was hard for her, but seeing her hurt made him hurt more than any bullet could do. "Then Izzie getting cancer, Izzie leaving, the merger, George dying. It just shouldn't happen." She ranted, her eyes finally left the spot on the floor that she had been staring at for hours. "We don't deserve it. We are surgeons, we save lives everyday yet someone up there seems to hate us. Okay, so what, we have god-complexes. Big deal. CEO's and people in the stock market do, we try to save the lives, not ruin them." She sighed and laid her hands softly on his uninjured side. "It's not fair."

"I know." Derek whispered into her ear. His voice was soft and caring. His eyes rested on the beautiful woman with whom he had fallen in love with. "You don't deserve it. No one does, but these things have to happen to people so that they appreciate what they have." He sighed and ran his left hand over her face. She looked into his eyes again. "Look at Izzie and Alex, it took one of them nearly dying for them to realise what they had together and they had left it too late. By the time they realised what they had together she was in surgery or undergoing chemotherapy every day. Neither of them deserved that. He stood by her, didn't he. It takes guts to do that, but he realised what we have now. Things happen. The things make us realise what we have in life or they just screw us up more." He smiled at the end, his super cute McDreamy smile that just made her melt inside.

"I love you." She declared, for what had to be the fifth hunderth time in the last hour. "And you cannot die, or nearly die, or get shot on me again."

"I love you too," Derek replied back. "And why is that?" Another McDreamy smile. Damn him.

"Because, that would be the worst."

"Breakup ever." The besotted pair said inn unison before laughing lightly.

* * *

George looked at Alex. Amy had disappeared - again - to collect herself. He couldn't really blame her, if that was his brother. Ha. His brother. As if. Then again, it would be less shocking if it had been is brother, but Alex was never one for openness, or any kind of sharing of emotion. That was, unless it was hate. Well, fake you-annoy-me hate, not even real hate, more of a frienship hate. Friendly hate. That was new. "Alex." He finally spoke up. Alex didn't even look at him.

Alex just laid back on the bed, eyes closed and his head poised towards the ceiling. He didn't know why he had just done that. He never came clean with his emotions, unless it was Izzie and George - no matter how close him and Izzie were - was not Izzie. Neither was AMy, but he was okay with her knowing how he felt. There had been a time, a not-s-happy but a more-hapy-than-after-it time, when tehy had been inseperable, but then his father had gone one step too far. "Alex." George repeated again. Maybe he would go away if he didn't answer the fellow (or ex-fellow, or dead-fellow0 doctor. He nearly laughed. Like George would go away if- actually, that might work. "Look, I'm not gonna go away if you ignore me. Tat'll actually get me more determined, so why don't you just stop acting like a two year old and let me know if you're okay."

George sighed. It wasn't working. Nothing was working. Alex was being a stubborn jerk again and was refusing to answer. Alex was pissed, but not at George or Amy, he was pissed at himself. That much was obvious to George, and it saddened him. Okay, so he yelled that he loved Izzie to a bunch - okay one - dead person, and one George. "Izzie might have another brain tumour, she collasped you see." Alex opened his eyes and looked at George, concern and worry etched over his rough and usually - at leats when George had been around - emotionless face.

At least something worked.


	8. Chapter 7: Would you lie with me?

_**Authors note: Okay, this chapter will show some other viewpoints from people who are close but not close (make sense? to Alex. It will also show some after-shocks (effects?) of the shooting. Calzona in this! Please review! **_

_**Day six.  
**_

_**Disclaimer: Don't own Grey's Anatomy.  
**_

Arizona paced around the apartment. Owen was there, and so was Callie, but she still paced. Her little protege was in a coma and she was back in work tommrrow. It would be so weird witout the only half-decent doctor following her around. She was dreading it. Absolutly dreading it. That crazy guy had came in and pointed a gun at her and Callie and all she had done was mutter some words as if they would change everything. What if Callie had been shot? She wouldn't have been able to live with that loss. She fixed people, as a surgeon she fixed people - children, little people, tiny persons - physically and as a friend - lover, boss, colleuge - she fixed people emotionally. She was a fixer, but Alex was an adult so she couldn't physically fix him and he was asleep so she couldn't be his friend.

Callie watched her lover as she paced. They had gotten back together after the shooting and were planning on adopting a baby the very second they were able to. She knew Arizona was worried about work tom morrow, she was too. Alex Karev. Typically being stubborn and refusing to wake up. She had gone over to Meredith's the other day to see how she and Derek were doing. They were fine according to Meredith, but Callie had stayed and cooked them some food because Steven's wasn't here, neither was Karev, or Burke, so she had to save Derek and anyone else from eeating Meredith's cooking. That wasn't the main thing though. She couldn't sleep because Arizona couldn't either. She couldn't sleep because that guy could have shot Arizona and if that had happened she wouldn't have been able to live.

She wanted it back to normal. Is that so wrong?

* * *

Sofia glanced at her best friend as she walked around the hospital. It wasn't that hard to see her, considering that she was lingering outside the ICU room. One specific ICU room that housed Alex Karev. His family are here. She really couldn't believe it because Alex was Alex. Cristina was in and out of the ICU, but his friends were near enough stationed here. She probably was too. But she was acting chief (it was between her and Mark, who would you chose?) "Meredith." Meredith jumped in fright. She had not seen her friend watching her. Sofia would have laughed if the situation hadn't been this serious.

"Yes Dr Carter?" Meredith asked profesionally. Don't ask why I'm here, don't ask why I'm here.

"As your chief I should be asking why the hell you're up here, as you friend, I have to say that this is torturing yourself." Then it hit Sofia. She recognised the room number Alex had been moved to after his second surgery (they had to move him for some reason). It was the room that George had been in... "Oh, Meredith. Alex is gonna be fine."

She never believed in fate, as a doctor she couldn't. Fate was only a matter of beliefs and ideas. People who don't see people die every day can believe in fate, but a oncologist such as herself could never believe. She didn't have a choice on what she believed in. But now, standing here and hearing the alarms that blasted around the one room she dreaded them sounding in only seconds after she had reassured Meredith that Alex would be okay was exactly like how fate had been described to her. What had she done? Why was this happening again? She didn't need to check her pager, because she knew that it would be a 911 code telling her that her best friend and historic one-night stand was coding.

Meredith had frozen. She couldn't just go in there and face the possiblilty that another dead friend would be in that room. Amber and Aaron - looking very depressed and anxious - were rushed out of the room as medical personel ran into there. Cristina was running down the corridor only a few seconds after that, and ran straigt in. Ignoring Meredith for the first time in a long time. Meredith didn't complain. As long as Alex was okay she didn't really care if everyone hated her.

A few minutes passed in silence with only the normal buzz of the hospital but even that was quiet. Everyone was. She noticed the nurses were also standing around with looks of worry on their faces. Then, after another agonising minute of waiting, Cristina and Sofia emerged from the room looking rather exhausted and with a grim expression plastered onto their faces. No... He can't be... Can he?

Alex can't be dead, can he?

_**Another cliff hanger. Please review! **_


	9. Chapter 8: And just forget the wolrd?

_**A/N: Sorry! Really, really sorry! I do have a reasonable excuse. Surgery. There was no internet in Alder Hey and I was on a lot of painkillers and I had terrible writers block so please forgive any mistakes.**_

_**Disclaimer: Own nothing! **_

_**Other not that I am putting in all of my fics for the next six months (added bit): **_**I was in hospital after surgery when I wrote this. I was on morphine and a bunch of other stuff. Forgive any mistakes because I'm still not 100 percent lucid enough to spot them because, even at home, I am still on a bunch of make-you-very-tired painkillers because when you have a big metal thing sticking out of your leg you tend to need them.** __

Lexie did her best not to groan. This was not good. Not good in any way, shape or form. It couldn't end well, but it felt so right. She looked at the man she was sharing the on-call room bed with. Mark Sloan, why did you make me fall in love with you? She asked the air around her. This was messed up. Her boyfriend was in a coma! A coma. As in he might die. And she slept with Mark Sloan. She had sex with her ex-boyfriend (the man she had fallen in love with – didn't matter what she told Alex. He loved Izzie. But he could die and she cheated on him and if he didn't survive then this would haunt her forever and she would grow old and die surrounded by cats.

She might be overdoing it a bit.

–

Cristina sighed. "He might have brain damage." The words Meredith had been thinking had managed to get out into the real world. Meredith stared at Cristina. No. No way. No freaking way, as Cristina had put it on the morning before it all happened. "Sofia is gonna take him down for a scan now- Your sister is a bitch." Meredith raised her eyebrows at the sudden change in conversation. Meredith followed Cristina's line of sight. Oh, Lexie. You didn't. Lexie was walking away from an on-call room. Then Mark Sloan walked out of it with a very happy I-just-got-some look on his face.

"Don't." Meredith said, looking at Cristina with a look that spoke for itself. I don't care what she's done, Alex is who I'm focused on now. The look described how they were both feeling. Anger.

–

Sofia looked at the scans. No obvious signs of brain damage. That was a good thing, right? She then looked at Alex. Yes, it was a good thing but it wasn't good enough because Alex still wasn't awake. Six damn hours. Six damn days. She took a deep breath and made sure that no one was in the room with them. Amber and Aaron had gone to the cafeteria after they had seen the familiar face with Alex (Sofia, taking Alex for a scan), Meredith had gone home to care for Derek (she had been given the day off), Cristina was operating, and the nurses were staying clear of her and Alex's room unless it was absolutely necessary to enter. She let her eyes return to Alex's body. It wasn't just Alex until he woke up. "I avoid stairwells, staircases, just stairs in general, and serial killers that are admitted, but everyone does that anyway." She admitted. "I mean, I left for England because I was that scared and I never got to say thank you because I left in a rush, and when I came back I was kinda busy with saving Izzie and I didn't have time to say thanks. So thank you Alex. You saved my life. And when you wake up, you will avoid supply closets, maybe elevators and conference rooms too. Because you'll think that if you go back there, the guy will shoot you again. I know. I know that is why you probably don't wanna wake up, but you will make it through it. You can just run down the stairs instead of getting in an elevator. You'll probably beat the elevator." She smirked, taking his hand in hers and holding it tightly. "You will survive this Alex, because you're a survivor. You live through everything and you have done it before, you've beaten worse than this before and you can make it through this. You can do it Alex. Because, as George famously said, we will survive this. Which is ironic considering that he was the only one that didn't and my sanity would prefer it if it remained that way which is why – unless you want me going crazier, and if that happens I will probably be the one on the psych floor – you need to survive" She sighed, and exited the room without another word. She didn't dwell on how cold Alex's hands were. She didn't want to.

–

"What are you doing here?" Cristina asked Meredith as the pair sat in Joe's bar. Meredith glanced at her before drowning another shot of tequila. Joe shot her a worried glance before giving her another one.

"I," Meredith started drunkenly, "I, am here because the extensively large Shepherd clan are taking up residence in my house and they think I am working. Which I should be – and would be – if Sofia hadn't sent me home. Which isn't 100 percent true because I'm not home. I am drinking."

"I'll word it differently, why are you here?" Meredith drowned another shot, before looking at Cristina.

"Because I lost a kid. Because George died. Because Izzie got cancer. Because Izzie left Alex with a letter the first time, and he finally left her the third time. Because Derek and Alex got shot. Because I'm probably going to go back to being Dark and Twisty again." Meredith had obviously drank a lot for the alcohol to have this effect on her.

Cristina sighed. She didn't like that at all. But Meredith was right. Joe passed her a shot of tequila as Cristina sat down. Drinking buddies again.

**A/N: Planned on being longer but I'm tired, on painkillers which make me normal-tired increase to falling-asleep-as-I-type tired. Please review! **


	10. Chapter 10: I don't quite know

**A/N: So sorry about the long wait, this chapter took a lot of planning cos I wasn't sure how to put it and I had a big writers block with this story and I would love reviews cos this is it. The last chapter. :) **

**Disclaimer: Own nothing! **

Amy looked at George. "You think we've done the right thing, I mean, what if it doesn't work?" Worry stained her voice.

"He will." George answered hopefully.

She still didn't believe him.

–

"What's happening?" Meredith questioned as she saw the furry of movement inside Alex's room. Due to the nurses and doctors in there, she was unable to see Alex and that was something she did not like.

"Don't know," Sofia answered while running past the slightly hungover Meredith. "Gonna go found out!" She continued before entering Alex's room. A few of the nurses and doctors moved out of the way for the acting chief so that she could get a better view. Alex was awake. "Okay, everyone out, I'll do this," A few people opened their mouths in objection, but the glare Sofia sent them was enough to send them running for the door. Alex tried to thank her, but his voice was completely gone. "Here," She smiled, grabbing the water by his bed and helping him drink it. "You try moving and I will kill you."

"Sorry I forgot." He rasped out with a smile. "What happened?"

"Forgot what, and you got shot. You lost a lot of blood, and you went into a coma for about eight days, six hours, and thirteen minutes, not being exact or detailed in anyway cos' I'm all over the place. Acting chief, Cristina is taking over Owen as head of trauma for the rest of the week, Meredith is taking over me in oncology, and I'm gonna shut up now and get Grey and Yang cos in about two minutes my pager is gonna go off cos I need to do someone's paperwork." Another smile.

"One-night stand. You could have told me you know." His voice was still quite weak. Her mouth formed a small 'O'.

"God, you take your time, what's it been, three years." Her daughter would be three by now, nearly four. A small sigh left her lips. "I would've told you Alex, but you were being messed up by Ava and Addison and what was it with you and the letter A?" She laughed. Meredith had gotten tired of waiting for Sofia to tell her to come in and had entered the room.

"How you feeling Alex?" Meredith asked. Sofia sent Alex a 'Good luck, she's hungover' smirk before leaving the room to do some more god-dammed paper work. Get back soon Webber, or I might just kill you.

"Like I've been shot."

"If you hadn't of just came out of a coma I'd punch you for being sarcastic." She joked back. He could see that something was really wrong, it was obvious.

"You okay Mer?" He was tired, but he was going to see if his friend was okay first. She looked at the floor. "And don't say fine, I'm the master of fine and look at me." She chuckled slightly before looking up. He could see the tears building up in her eyes. "What's up?" He knew what was up, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He'd seen Sofia with the same look in her eyes when him and Addison had told her that she had lost the baby.

**You say you feel so down,  
Every time I turn around  
You say you should've  
Been gone by now,  
You think that everything's wrong,  
Ask me how to carry on,  
We'll make it through  
Another day  
Just hold on**

"You were wrong," She whispered. Even in his bad (terrible) state, he still managed to hear her. "You told me I'd be an amazing mother, but I wasn't." She felt his hand move over hers, and he squeezed it the best he could. That just made it worse because it made her realise how weak her best friend was. Not even Derek had been that bad. She swallowed down the lump in her throat. Breathe, don't cry, deep breaths, don't breakdown.

Whatever you do, don't breakdown.

"Mer," Alex breathed weakly. Her eyes shot up until they were staring right into his. He could see how much this had broken her by the pain and tears in her eyes. "You are gonna be an amazing mother. What happened," He took a deep – well, as deep as he felt was possible – breath. "It was not your fault," His eyelids were growing heavier by the second, but he kept forcing them open. "Your post-it husband was... shot in front of you... The person you love was shot. You were in... a situation... and because of the circumstances... it happened... It had nothing to do with you... You could not have stopped it..."

"You don't even know what happened." She choked out, still fighting back tears.

"I do... You had a miscarriage..." Her eyes widened a little bit, and she wiped away the tear that had managed to escape her eyes. "I could hear stuff.." He sent her a small smile. "And I know.. From all the crazy, dark and twisty stuff I heard... Outta you lot... that it was... not your fault... and why was Satan in my... room?" Meredith laughed at that. He sent her a tired smile, deciding not to laugh because he knew it would kill his chest.

"Get some rest Alex, or I'll send Satan back in here. She's working here again you know, so you're gonna be on her service and..." She smiled when she noticed that Alex had fallen asleep at Satan. For the first time since the incident, she was actually happy.

**Cause life starts now,  
You've done all the things  
That could kill you somehow  
And you're so far down  
But you will survive this  
Somehow because  
Life starts now**

A few weeks passed and Alex was going stir-crazy. By the time he was allowed out of the hospital, he was able to walk a short distance without much discomfort. Meredith had a smile on her face again, which meant that she wasn't as dark and twisty as they had all expected.

"You coming to rescue me this time?" Alex questioned as Meredith and Cristina entered his room. "Or torture me." He directed the comment at Cristina. Cristina pulled a tongue at him before sitting in the chair.

"Unfortunately, I have had my torturing powers removed." She complained.

"She's on Hunts service, not Altmans." Meredith supplied for the confused Alex. "And don't give me that look, I'm the one freeing you. You'll be back in work in less than a month." He gave her the look. "I'll ask Webber if he can cut it down to three weeks." Alex gave her a thank you smile. "I hate you, giving me the 'I got shot' eyes."

"You're welcome."

"It's so hard not to throw something at him, you know." Cristina commented, ignoring Alex's glare with ease.

"I know!" Meredith laughed, enjoying the fake hurt look on Alex's face.

"You hurt me." Alex shook his head. "At least I don't go crazy on morphine."

"At least I don't sleep for 8 days. I mean it Alex, you ever think of doing that again and I'll kill you myself."

"Yeah, yeah, I've had that speech of Amber already, and Sofia, and you. You can't do the speech twice!"

"Yeah, I can, and Cristina can give you the speech for me."

"You do it again and I will make sure you're life will be full of mind-shattering pain and then I will dump your body in a river and watch you as you either drown or rot and then I will feed you to the fish." Cristina joked. "Not. I will do much worse than that. I will make you move in with... Sydney Heron." Alex's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't."

"She would," Meredith smiled, looking completely serious.

"I would."

**Authors note: The end! h**


End file.
